Protective fabrics are used in numerous applications. For example, highly cut-resistant fabrics are used to manufacture article such as gloves, aprons, arm guards, leg covers and other protective apparel. Currently, a wide variety of techniques are employed to create those highly cut-resistant protective fabrics. Those fabrics are typically knitted with specially engineered yarns. Those yarns typically contain several fibers or strands, some or all of which exhibit cut-resistant properties. Those yarns are knitted into a single layer of fabric used to form an article.
Generally, those yarns incorporate at least two different cut-resistant materials. For example, a common yarn is constructed of a core member which is made from an abrasive material combined with another fibrous material. The abrasive core is wrapped with cover members made from a selected inherently cut-resistant material, typically those having a high lubricity. High performance lubricious materials are very expensive. Naturally, the performance of those yarns is directly affected by the choice of yarn components and by the structure of the yarn.
In addition to the lubricious material, the yarns may incorporate outer cover wraps made from materials that provide enhanced comfort, improve the yarn surface for the application of coatings, increase the bulk level of the composite yarn, and/or increase the abrasion resistance of the fabrics made from those yarns. Furthermore, the outer covers may be incorporated solely for aesthetic reasons such as visibility and product identification.
In operation, an article made with those highly engineered yarns, such as a protective glove, utilizes the abrasive core material to dull the cutting edge of a sharp object such as a knife. The exterior portion of the covers wrapped around the abrasive core, however, provides only minimal protection from the sharp edge of the knife. It is only after the sharp edge of the knife is dulled by the abrasive core that the highly lubricious cover material can effectively provide cut-resistance. Thus, only the interior portion of the lubricious material optimally performs its intended functions while the exterior portion of the lubricious material is under-utilized.
Other existing fabric, and the protective apparel made therefrom, is inefficient in providing protection because the cutting edge of the sharp object passes through half of the cover material before encountering the abrasive core which dulls the cutting edge so that the remaining lubricious material can optimally perform its intended functions. In a typical specially engineered yarn, the cutting edge of the sharp object passes through approximately fifty percent of the expensive highly lubricious material located in the exterior portion of the outer cover wraps before reaching the abrasive core. Only the remaining portion of the cover is useful in resisting a cut threat. Therefore, the cut resistance of existing engineered yarns do not perform at an optimal level because the exterior portion of the lubricious cover is not used and is therefore wasted.
Existing protective fabrics are made by machines equipped with a standard plating attachment used to add a liner of materials for aesthetic and comfort reasons to a layer of cut-resistant material. For example, gloves are manufactured with this equipment using the plating attachment to apply a more comfortable inner material to the glove fabric or to apply a less expensive material to the glove fabric. In particular, a spun aramid glove has been created which contains a cotton lining plated onto an aramid cover.
Therefore, while it is known to use a plating yarn in knitting protective fabrics, no existing fabric is composed of multiple layers of distinct yarns to perform the functions of cut resistance. Furthermore, no existing fabric has two layers of distinct cut-resistant materials and a third layer of non-cut resistant material which is capable of performing yet a third function.
A need, therefore, exists for a fabric that efficiently utilizes abrasive material and an inherently cut-resistant material to optimally resist a cut threat.